Accepting submissions to
“Superheroes Stand for Family” Anthology!

Superhero-Fiction is proud to announce we are accepting submissions to our first charity anthology until July 31st, 2018. We’ve thought long and hard about the themes, terms, and how we plan to promote it.

Theme

Superheroes Stand for Families

Description

Superheroes have always fought for those who couldn’t fight for themselves. From their very inception, we’ve seen Superhero stories speak to the injustices in the world around us. From the rise of Fascism during World War II, to the Civil Rights and Feminist movements, to LGBTQ rights, authors have used Superheroes to ignite that spark of the heroic that lives in us all. Now Superheroes are needed again. This time, to defend families who have no one else to defend them.

Superheroes Stand with Families is a collection of short stories that illustrate the tragedy of migrant families being separated from one another and the necessity of heroes to rise, protect, and defend. The stories can be explicit in their use of migrant families or allegorical. The theme, however, must be the same: Families and children who need a hero to rescue and defend them.

The Superheroes Stand for Families anthology is looking for fifteen (15) stories written by Superhero authors that speak to an audience of all ages (teen and adult.) We strongly suggest authors utilize the world from their existing superhero novels. These stories can be non-cannon, introduce new characters, but must relate directly to the theme above.

What We Don’t Want

We want to avoid erotica, explicit sex, and as romance as central themes. Please do not include any stories with animal cruelty, child abuse or gratuitous violence (we’re okay with violence to move the story along, but make sure it’s necessary.) We will not accept stories that promote racism, sexism, or messages of hate. We will not accept Fan Fiction from worlds you do not hold rights to.

Deadline

July 31, 2018, 11:59PM EST

Word Limit

4000 – 7000 words.

Pay

1 Digital File

Genres

Superhero (Emphasis on the Super/Powers)

Language

English

Rights

Accepted works will grant Superhero-Fiction first exclusive English-language rights for one (1) year from the time of publication. The author of each short story will retain the copyright to their respective work. All rights will revert back to the creator after one year from publication.

Simultaneous & Multiple Submissions

No simultaneous submissions will be accepted. Multiple submissions from the same author will be considered but please note that only one story per author will be accepted to allow for variety and diversity. Previously unpublished stories only, no reprints unless requested.

Funding

All work for this anthology is being donated. This includes the writing, cover design, editing, and formatting. No parties will be paid for their contribution to this anthology. All profits will go to benefit RAICES.

April 28th celebrates the United States’ National Superhero Day. We over at Superhero-Fiction believe firmly in heroes both on the page and off. To celebrate this holiday, we have a collection of Superhero Fiction discounted for you! Click below, browse and download. From all of us at Superhero-Fiction, thank you for inspiring us to breathe life into these heroes.

It’s been quite a week. Between launching Shadow Dreams and attending my first Norwescon, my head is spinning! When trying to think of what to chat with you about today, one thing kept popping into my mind: Diversity in Fiction. Probably because I wrote my first diverse protagonist for Shadow Dreams and also because I attended two very powerful panels at Norwescon about diversity. One question that comes up a lot is “How do I write a diverse character the right way?” There were a few tips from the panelists that I thought were simple, but very good.

1-Ask the people you’re writing about

Whether it’s an indigenous people like Native Americans or someone in the LGBT community, talking to one or more people from these groups can help you know the things to avoid, or to include. You can find out what tropes are offensive, and what you may have written that is a misrepresentation. You can also find out facts that you might not have known before, which can help you create a more real and interesting character. When you do speak to someone from these communties, remember to treat them with respect, offer to take them to lunch or coffee. And listen to them, don’t argue. They are giving you their time and wisdom, even though they don’t have to.

2-Read books from writers in these communities

One thing I did for Shadow Dreams was read books by women of color to find out what it’s like to be a woman of color in this country. I also researched African American hair. Yes, I said hair. I had come across a few stories about the importance of beauty salons in African American communities during the time I was writing in. I had also just read “Binti” by Nnedi Okorafor, which illustrated some of the cultural significance of hair. I wanted to include a scene in Shadow Dreams to show the community my character was from and the importance of hair culture. Trouble was, I didn’t know much about African American hair. So, I found a couple books on the subject. Not only did I find out more about hair, I found out how politicized it was, and how important it has been to the African American culture in our country. I didn’t include even a fourth of what I’d read in the book, but it certainly influenced how and what I wrote. If you want to know more about a group of people, read books from reputable people within those communities, including fiction and non-fiction.

3-Change your default

I once heard a writer from a TV show admit that he defaults to what he knows when writing: white, cis, straight and male. It’s not that he doesn’t want to write diverse, he just doesn’t think about it instinctively. In order to change our default, we have to reprogram our instincts. The way I’ve done that is to stop and ask myself: “Could this character be a person of color? LGBT? Overweight? Differently abled?” At first, this slowed down my character creation quite a bit. But now it’s almost automatic. I don’t default to what I know. I seek out diverse characters in my books. This may not work for you, you may need to change your default in a different way. But I do encourage you to try if you find your writing bordering on the monochromatic.

There are many ways to write diverse fiction, these are just a few. If you write, do you try to include diverse characters? And if you’re a reader, do you look for diverse characters in your fiction?

In just over a month we’ve seen an amazing response to Superhero-Fiction. Independent authors of superhero novels have been sending requests to have their books listed, and our library is growing quickly as authors in our niche submit their uncanny novels.

As we continue to expand, there are two things we want to continue:

Readers. While you’re looking through these awesome novels, sign up for our newsletter. Eventually we will be sending out promotions with deals and new titles that fans of superheroes will love. We’re be sure to protect you against super villain spam.

Authors. We want you to continue submitting your books. Our goal is to become one-stop-shopping for fans of superhero novels. Upload your awesome work so we can continue sharing it!

We’re meeting some amazing authors and hearing great things from readers. We looking forward to expanding our league and have a few plot twists in the work for the future. Stay tuned.

Welcome to Superhero-Fiction!

Once upon a time, the love of superheroes, comics in particular, made us geeks. Now with the rise of superheroes in all forms of media, geek is the new chic. Many of us took our love of comics and started writing stories and now they have become published works of fiction. Superheroes take many forms; enhanced cybernetics, alien visitors, freak accidents, masters of mystic arts, natural evolution. Whatever the source of this greater-than-human abilities, authors have been working to capture those stories and provide them readers. Superhero-Fiction is the one-stop-shop for both authors and fans of the novelization of superheroes.

Fans

Stop by the superhero novels in the links above and pick your genre of superheroes or look for your favorite author. New novels will be added to continue expanding the library. Sign up for the Newsletter to receive new releases in the genre and stay up to date with your favorite authors.

Authors

Join the members section and have your book listed on the website. Memberships is open to any and all superhero authors. We’ll also be using the membership to offer promotion opportunities to help increase visibility in the genre. Currently in the works are a box set promotion and a podcast discussing all things superhero (that will be offering author interviews.) As the membership grows we will be offering more opportunities to get your novels in front of the fans who love superheroes.

Again, welcome to Superhero-Fiction. We look forward to promoting these uncanny authors and bringing the newest happenings in the superhero genre to its fans.